Singapore

Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang Island

Singapore is an independent city state notoriously known for strict
enforcement of laws with punishments like canning for graffiti and the
death penalty for drug trafficking. The reality is that the average
law abiding traveler has nothing to fear about travel in Singapore.
It's one of the most modern cities you will find in Asia and you CAN
drink the water. It's also a major hub of travel for the region and
ties in many flight options with Australia, South East Asia and
Indonesian points of interest like Bali.

The airport has free WiFi and we used it to find a hostel downtown
near Little India called Smeet Home. Many hostels were booked solid
due to the Chinese New Year celebration, so we were lucky to find
something. Lunar New Year goes on throughout Asia for 15 days at the
end of January and early February. So Happy New Year everyone! It's
the year of the water dragon so live it up!

Smeet Home turned out pretty good, other than our room being up 5
flights of stairs. Free Internet downstairs, free toast and oatmeal
for breakfast and we had a TV in our room. We got some good use out of
the TV watching some hilarious and intense Bollywood cinema. Serious
entertainment value, no joke!

Singapore has some interesting architecture and offers many of the
same activities you'd find in any major city. We'd done most of those
things other places so we explored the city a bit, relaxed a bit and
went to the amazing Singapore Zoo. Most of the exhibits allow you to
get up close and personal with the animals in ways you rarely see at
other zoos. It was really fun.

Due to all the travelers enjoying the Chinese New Year, most modes of
transportation heading north through Malaysia were booked up but we
were able to find a flight to Kuala Lumpur on JetStar for $2 a
piece...with fees and taxes it ended up being $45 each, haha, still a
good deal.

Kuala Lumpur, the Jewel of Malaysia, home to the Petronis Towers,
shopping and not much else. It's a nice enough city and worth a stop
if you're passing through but it seems to be Malaysia's answer to a
westernized big city with high rises, a shopping mall on every corner,
etc.

After a visit to the Petronis Towers and exploring the city on foot we
decided to take a relaxing break for an hour foot massage at the spa
just below our hostel. It was some much needed recuperation for our
tired little feet.

We stayed at a decent little hostel called Sunshine Bedz. Good price,
free Internet WiFi in the rooms and great location, walking distance
to the Petronis Towers.

From Kuala Lumpur we jumped on a bus and headed north to Penang
island. (In general, bus travel and train travel are very efficient
ways to get around Malaysia). We got off the bus at the Butterworth
stop and hoped on the ferry for a quick trip across the water to
Penang island and walking distance to the main tourist area. There
wasn't much we wanted to do in Penang but we were unclear on a few
things about the Thailand border, our next heading, so we decided to
crash in Penang for the night and head for Thailand the next day.

Again, not a lot of accommodation options with Chinese New Year on so
we ended up in a hole called KK Hostel. Our dirty room was directly
above the dirty butcher downstairs and smelled really bad. We survived
the night, spent an hour or so on a wild goose chase trying to find a
mini bus, (aka Mini Van), to take us over the border to the city of
Trang, Thailand, ended up heading back across on the ferry and
grabbing a regular bus to Hat Yai, Thailand. From Hat Yai we grabbed
another bus heading to Krabi and got off in Trang as it passed
through.

The Thai border was an easy and painless crossing. At the border you
can get 15 days in Thailand but if you want more time you can just
visit the Thai Embassy in Penang for a 30-60 day Visa.